smoothies

March Warrior Check In

Posted on by tresswann

Back for March:

How do I feel today – Mixed blues.  Despite the fall and my face, we ran around a lot today.  First thing, we went to Trader Joe’s and Omaha Steaks.  No, no meat for me.  Husband’s youngest just got his first apartment and we filled their freezer.  Then on to the Chocolate Duck, again not for me, getting a class for a niece and Easter Egg supplies for the kids.  Then on to sister in laws to drop off things and pick up Girl Scout cookies.  Not for me.  I don’t eat them, ever.  Visit kids with food, flowers and pyrex for housewarming.   I gimped through everything very frustrating and depressing but I still get going.

What did you do for yourself today?

Well, I blogged and then I am going to make a wrapped bracelet.  And it was fun shopping.

What did I eat today and how did it make me feel – Sigh.  Not good.  I started the morning with coffee and a piece of Christmas pudding.  Toffee crunch after trader Joe’s.  A streusel apple spelt muffin.  Quinoa chips.  Dare I say, steamed pork buns for dinner?  But I have been really good all week, smoothies and salads

Did I exercise? What did I do? How did it feel – Still not going to the gym or Zumba.  Still housebound, still doing the stepper and recently added treadmill.  I am working my physical therapy back in.  Hurt in falls so I am back to square one with Abs.

For whom or what are you grateful? What matters most in life? Grateful as usual to be warm safe and dry.  Grateful that I didn’t seriously hurt myself in my fall.  Grateful for the kindness of strangers.  And my job.  And my stepsons are awesome.

Do I have a higher purpose or driving force in my life?   Make a mission statement – Higher purpose still not defined.  Beginning to dream again

How long have I been treated with conventional medicine Not this month but I think I need to go to the doctore.

The first time I had a symptom – June 2004 walking on the beach boardwalk

What symptoms are most troublesome – Duh, gradually losing my ability to walk and being dependent.  And the falling.

Do I blame myself for things –  Yes, I am still blaming myself for not being aggressive against this.

How is stress level? It’s high.  Now I am really frightened about how things are going down.

What can I do tomorrow to make it better than today?   Start over.  It’s a new month.  I still have new days.

Until next month.

Working and 9 Cups

Posted on by tresswann

I am taking elements from all the different ways of eating I have been exploring: Wahls, Swank, Clean Cuisine, MS Diet. I am trying to take the best of everything and maybe create something will work for me and on me. Well, I really like the concepts of 9 cups of fruits and vegetables a day. However, another thing I have noticed (and I am truly grateful this does not apply to me) is that these people were so disabled they could not work.   I work. I wake around 4 a.m. every morning, commute close to two hours each way and though I tend to demur, some people say I have a pretty high powered job. So, back to the 9 cups. Yesterday, Sunday, I set up some smoothies in advance. Smoothies are a great way to get in vegetables, fruits and nutrients. There is one I adore from Sparkpeople that sets me up for four cups – two cups of kale, one cup of blueberries and a banana. As I mentioned earlier, I wake around 4 a.m. I am a morning person. Most mornings I wake with a smile, literally. I am one of those people, people hate in the morning. I will beam and tell you we are going to have a great day. I can do this without coffee. I prefer coffee. However, cheerful and all does not do blender in the morning, even weekend later mornings. So, I thought I’d set myself up for success this week by making a few yesterday. It took nearly an hour! Oh, and by the way, I am a good cook so I know how to do my mise en place etc. Back to 9 so I am going to work, no private office, lots of meeting, interaction and commuting. There are logistics involved here.

I do have issues so there is literally only so much I can physically take into work with me. There is that long commute, most of it on public transport. Therefore, I am not using the public facilities. I have to time this!

Next is prep. Uh, my energy is kinda limited. My husband helps but.. And then actually eating all this. And it’s not the only thing I need to eat.

So how do you eat this healthily and correctly and hold down a job without lots of help? I know I have to focus on my health but work too and uh, yea, that exercise thing and getting enough sleep?   Just sayin’

Bananas, really?

Posted on by tresswann

Who would have thought that bananas are my new savior? As a child, I couldn’t stand them. I was not really allowed not to eat food but I stood my ground with bananas. Never on breakfast cereal. I was the little girl who adored stewed prunes. Being West Indian, we made fritters. Those I liked. Banana bread, not so much. It was barely tolerable. And Grandma used to make more of a baked fritter, dense and with raisins. Oh and baked with a little orange juice and brown sugar, a nice treat.

As an adult living on my own, I NEVER bought bananas.

Then a few years ago as this journey started, I felt I had to eat them for the potassium. Plus my husband will eat them. So, I started to eat them. A man at work started leaving them on my desk. I started losing a little weight. They were a necessary evil.

Then with this new way of eating came the smoothie and getting rid of sugar. The banana makes it possible! Who knew? It adds creaminess and sweetness to the smoothies. I feel full and want less sugar. I freaking crave this.

I did read in one of the Healing books – no bananas. What? I cannot see this working out. So I am continuing with my bananas, disguised of course!

Sunday Blues

Posted on by tresswann

Today, I didn’t have the usual Sunday blues. I worked, so a little resentful a little tense.   No kids for dinner tonight so that was easy. We had dinner last night and it was glowing. Jeremy’s birthday. Bittersweet, no longer a little boy.

I am blogging for myself today. And work was for me. It will ease my mind when I stand in front of a hostile audience on Monday. So it was for me but not in a real me soothing way.

Eating – well an apple streusel muffin with spelt, then munching around and my usual favorite green smoothie. We did take out Chinese so spring roll, too greasy; hot and sour soup; steamed dumplings, gluten mistake.

No real exercise today, just half an hour on the stepper.

For whom or what are you grateful? What matters most in life? What am I grateful for today? Well, stepchildren. I have no children of my own. I am sad about that but the guys have given so much to my life. I think and hope that they will remember me when I am gone. I am thinking a lot more about mortality than before. I am grateful at how far my husband and I have come and the challenges we have overcome. And the blue fall skies.

What can I do tomorrow to make it better than today? Eat better, rest more and exercise. Standard stuff. But what I need to do is get down what I want to do.

Progress? And Green Smoothies

Posted on by tresswann

So much for first steps. I have these great conversations in my head and I “write” about all sorts of things but somehow don’t ever get them on paper. This has to be something that happens every day or it won’t be meaningful and I won’t succeed.

What have I done? A lot of reading and ruminating. It’s easy to get lost in a maze of what to do’s. Everyone has a different take on what to eat and how to go about this. I feel like I am walking (ha, if only) into a dark, thick forest with a compass and a pocket knife. I learned to blaze trails when I was a Camp Fire Girl. I was never really good at it. I need to be good at this.

My left leg is changing, maybe deteriorating so it is more than time for the line in the sand.

What am I eating? Well, I have started with green smoothies. They are filling and luscious. I actually crave them. It seems to be curbing some of my sugar cravings and filling me up. I have been trying for   mornings. I leave for work at 5:30 a.m. so this is a challenge. The cats are terrified of the blender and my husband hates cleaning it. I make them the night before unless it’s a day I am home. Late in the week I have started having it when I come home. It helps before dinner. Which one do I like best? The one from Sparkpeople. Spinach or kale with almond milk, frozen bannanas, a little almond butter, some chia seeds (I added not part of the SP recipe) frozen blueberries and a little cocoa powder. The spinach is sweeter than the kale. I have tried a variation with mango instead of blueberries, not as good. The blueberries give it a depth and sweetness. I tried one from Clean Cuisine with romaine, blueberries and ginger. It sounded good on paper. I won’t be repeating it. I’ll be trying more of the Clean Cuisine ones. Right now the bananas seem to be giving it the shake feeling and creaminess.

This might be the answer to cutting the refined sugar that I need.  We will see/